On Becoming a Novelist (1983) by John Gardner and the Art of Fiction

On Becoming a Novelist (1983) by John Gardner is a book every novelist, amateur or professional, should read (at least three times) to better understand the complete dynamics and responsibility required to become a true novelist who pursues the craft as an art form.

The great short story writer Raymond Carver, who was a former pupil of Gardner, remembers his teacher telling him at Chico State to “read all the Faulkner you can get your hands on, and then read all of Hemingway to clean the Faulkner out of your system” (p xv).

Carver goes on to explain in the book’s Foreword that Gardner represented something deeper than literature when Gardner instructed his university students in creative writing. Carver explains:

“It was his conviction that if the words in the story were blurred because of the author’s insensitivity, carelessness, or sentimentality, then the story suffered from a tremendous handicap. But there was something even worse and something that must be avoided at all costs: if the words and the sentiments were dishonest, the author was faking it, writing about things he didn’t care about or believe in, then nobody could ever care anything about it.

“A writer’s values and craft. This is what the man taught and what he stood for, and this is what I’ve kept by me in the years since that brief but all-important time” (p xvii).

American Novelist Ernest Hemingway in Hong Kong

After reading On Becoming a Novelist for the third time, one begins to see Carver’s point in how Gardner, a true mentor, believed in a novelist having a certain set of values, constitution, and character to undertake a lifetime of writing stories and novels.

In the Preface, Gardner pulls no punches as he elaborates why he wrote this book (which he used as part of his creative writing courses) and to illustrate which kind of writer the book was meant to inspire and instruct.

“On some subjects—for instance, writers’ workshops—one is tempted to pull punches or rest satisfied with oversimplified answers; but I’m assuming, as the primary reader of this book, an intensely serious beginning novelist who wants the strict truth (as I perceive it) for his life’s sake, so that he can plan his days of technique, theory, and attitude; and become as quickly and efficiently as possible a master of his craft” (p xxii).

What does Gardner mean, then, when he writes that this book is for the “serious beginning novelist”?

“The question becomes easier to answer if the would-be writer means not just ‘someone who can get published’ but ‘a serious novelist,’ that is, a dedicated, uncompromising artist,’” Gardner elaborates, “and not just someone who can publish a story now and then—in other words, if the beginning writer is the kind of person this book is mainly written for” (p 1).

The book, therefore, is not for the weak hearted and indolent of spirit. The book is for serious novelists who have written each day in the calming shade of obscurity for twenty years in order to improve himself, or herself, in the creation of literature as art. The book is not for those who easily win awards on account of their ideological and political content (judges and editors often feel sympathetic for such writers and, as a result, these judges and editors desire to show their empathy for these writers who vomit onto the page “sob stories” about their identities and troubled past when in fact these writers have barely lived and have not fully experienced life and have done nothing of significance nor importance to warrant a book or even a single essay of non-fiction) and then to have these writers do nothing with their writing careers later on in life is all too familiar. This book is for the true novelist who does not seek acceptance from others nor awards from organizations nor acclaim from the masses but seeks in the lonely, personal struggle the perfection of his, or her, own craft as a higher form of art to add to the overwhelming ocean of literature.

“I write for those who desire, not publication at any cost, but publication one can be proud of—serious, honest fiction,” explains Gardner in the Preface, “the kind of novel that readers will find they enjoy reading more than once, the kind of fiction likely to survive. Fine workmanship—art that avoids cheap and easy effects, takes no shortcuts, struggles never to lie even about the most trifling matters (such as which object, precisely, an angry man might pick up to throw at his kitchen wall, or whether a given character would in fact say ‘you aren’t’ or the faintly more assertive ‘you’re not’)—workmanship, in short, that impresses us partly by its painstaking care, gives pleasure and a sense of life’s worth and dignity not only to the reader but to the writer as well. This book is for the beginning novelist who has already figured out that it is far more satisfying to write well than simply to write well enough to get published” (p xxiii).

Gardner does seem to echo his own life as a writer before being published, which took him longer than most other writers of his generation (Gardner published his first book The Resurrection in 1966 at the age of 33). He understands the frustrations and barriers many novelists live under as they set upon the long, arduous journey of setting words to page to form a story into a worthy book that readers will one day cherish as much as the writer.

“Spending a lifetime writing novels is hard enough to justify in any case,” writes Gardner, “but spending a lifetime writing novels nobody wants is much harder. If ten or twelve critics praise one’s work and the rest of the world ignores it, it is hard to keep up one’s conviction that the friendly critics are not crackpots. This is not to say that the serious writer should try to write for everyone—try to win the audience both of Saul Bellow and of Stephen King. But if one tries to write for nobody, only for some pure and unearthly ideal of aesthetic perfection, one is apt to lose heart” (p 9).

Certainly being an aesthete must be a part of being a novelist but Gardner also knows that there is something else a novelist must do, must become if he, or she, wishes to create literature which aspires to the heavenly heights of art and for the novelist to have a successful career writing books and stories people long to read more than once.

“For another kind of novelist the accuracy required is, I think, of a higher order, infinitely more difficult to achieve. This is the novelist who moves like a daemon from one body—one character—to another. Rather than master the tics and oddities of his own being and learn how to present them in an appealing way—and rather than capture other people in the manner of a cunning epigrammist or malicious gossip—he must learn to step outside himself, see and feel things from every human—and inhuman—point of view. He must be able to report, with convincing precision, how the world looks to a child, a young woman, an elderly murderer, or the governor of Utah. He must learn, by staring intently into the dream he dreams over his typewriter, to distinguish the subtlest differences between the speech and feeling of his various characters, himself as impartial and detached as God, giving all human beings their due and acknowledging their frailties. Insofar as he pretends not to private vision but to omniscience, he cannot as a rule, love some of his characters and despise others…

“The beginning novelist who has the gift for inhabiting other lives has perhaps the best chance for success” (p 30).

Gardner’s advice on the process of becoming a true novelist and on most aspects of the writing process, especially the fundamentals to understanding the Elements of Story (see the chapter: “The Writer’s Nature”) and his thoughts on publication in the chapter “Publication and Survival” lays the absolute, undeniable truth out for the reader to better understand the choices required for someone to give his or her time, energy and life to the sacred calling of being a novelist. No easy task by any means.

[You might also like to try reading John Gardner’s other books on writing called: On Moral Fiction (1979); The Art of Fiction (1983); and, On Writers and Writing (1994). All are superb and worth several readings.]

On Becoming a Novelist is neatly and precisely packed with tons of advice, suggestions and some warnings onto every page of this rather short book of only 145 pages, which ends in a chapter titled “Faith,” because all true novelists need to have a little faith.

CG FEWSTON was born in Texas in 1979 and now lives in Hong Kong. He is the author of several short stories and novels. His works include A Father’s Son, The New America: A Collection, Vanity of Vanities, A Time to Love in Tehran, and (forthcoming) Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being, and (also forthcoming) Little Hometown, America: A Look Back.

His novel, A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN, won GOLD for Literary Classics’ 2015 best book in the category under “Special Interest” for “Gender Specific – Female Audience” and has been called a “cerebral, fast-paced thriller” by Kirkus Reviews, where it gained over 10,000 shares.

A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN was also nominated for (& lost) the following 2016 book contests: the PEN/Faulkner Award, the John Gardner Fiction Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, the Young Lions Fiction Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Hammett Prize, and the Pushcart Prize. Heartbreaking, lyrical and eloquent, this remarkable novel confirms CG FEWSTON’s place among America’s finest novelists.

CG FEWSTON has travelled the world visiting Mexico, the island of Guam, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Taipei & Beitou in Taiwan, Bali in Indonesia, and in China: Guilin, Shenzhen, Sanya on Hainan Island, Zhuhai and Beijing. He has spent several years living in South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. He also enjoys studying and learning French, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Among many others, CG FEWSTON’S stories, photographs and essays have appeared in The Penmen Review (“The Old Man in Beijing: A Christmas Carol” & “Y2K Meditations”), Adelaide Literary Magazine – from New York and Portugal (“A Day in the Life of a Guitarist”), Sediments Literary–Arts Journal, Bohemia, Ginosko Literary Journal, GNU Journal (“Hills Like Giant Elephants”), Polychrome Ink Literary Magazine, Contemporary Literary Review India (“The Girl on the River Kwai”), Tendril Literary Magazine, Prachya Review (“The One Who Had It All”), Driftwood Press, The Missing Slate Literary Magazine (“Darwin Mother”), Gravel Literary Journal, Foliate Oak Magazine, The Writer’s Drawer, Moonlit Road, Nature Writing, and Travelmag: The Independent Spirit; and for several years he was a contributor to Vietnam’s national premier English newspaper Tuoi Tre, “The Youth Newspaper.”

A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN won GOLD for Literary Classics’ 2015 best book in the category under ”Special Interest” for “Gender Specific – Female Audience”… Finalist in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction… Finalist in the 2015 Mystery & Mayhem Novel Writing Contest…

FEWSTON “delivers an atmospheric and evocative thriller in which an American government secret agent must navigate fluid allegiances and murky principles in 1970s Tehran… A cerebral, fast-paced thriller.”

“A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN is a thrilling adventure which takes place in pre-revolutionary Tehran. Author CG FEWSTON provides a unique glimpse into this important historical city and its rich culture during a pivotal time in its storied past. This book is so much more than a love story. Skillfully paired with a suspenseful tale of espionage, A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN is a riveting study of humanity. Replete with turns & twists and a powerful finish, FEWSTON has intimately woven a tale which creates vivid pictures of the people and places in this extraordinary novel.”

“Thus one skilled at giving rise to the extraordinary is as boundless as Heaven and Earth, as inexhaustible as the Yellow River and the ocean. Ending and beginning again, like the sun and moon. Dying and then being born, like the four seasons.”

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About the Author

CG FEWSTON was born in Texas in 1979 and now lives in Hong Kong. He is the author of several short stories and novels. His works include A Father’s Son, The New America: A Collection, Vanity of Vanities, A Time to Love in Tehran, and (forthcoming) Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being, and (also forthcoming) Little Hometown, America: A Look Back.

CG FEWSTON is a member of Club Med, AWP, Americans for the Arts, and a professional member & advocate of the PEN American Center. CG FEWSTON has emerged as a leader in literature with a seasoned voice of reason, fairness and truth while becoming your American novelist for the 21st century.

When asked in an interview why he writes and for whom, he answered: “I write for my children so that one day they will have something to read from their father.”

His fourth novel, A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN, won GOLD for Literary Classics’ 2015 best book in the category under “Special Interest” for “Gender Specific – Female Audience” and has been called a “cerebral, fast-paced thriller” by Kirkus Reviews, where it gained over 10,000 shares.

A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN was also nominated for (& lost) the following 2016 book contests: the PEN/Faulkner Award, the John Gardner Fiction Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, the Young Lions Fiction Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Hammett Prize, and the Pushcart Prize. Heartbreaking, lyrical and eloquent, this remarkable novel confirms CG FEWSTON’s place among America’s finest novelists.

CG FEWSTON has travelled the world visiting Mexico, the island of Guam, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Taipei & Beitou in Taiwan, Bali in Indonesia, and in China: Guilin, Shenzhen, Sanya on Hainan Island, Zhuhai and Beijing. He has spent several years living in South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. He also enjoys studying and learning French, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

While in Vietnam, CG FEWSTON was also founder and owner of Bumblebees Childcare and Kindergarten, bringing quality and premium education to thousands of children in need.

Among many others, CG FEWSTON has contributed several short stories, photographs and essays to The Penmen Review (“The Old Man in Beijing: A Christmas Carol” & “Y2K Meditations”), Adelaide Literary Magazine – from New York and Portugal (“A Day in the Life of a Guitarist”), Sediments Literary–Arts Journal, Bohemia, Ginosko Literary Journal, GNU Journal (“Hills Like Giant Elephants”), Polychrome Ink Literary Magazine, Contemporary Literary Review India (“The Girl on the River Kwai”), Tendril Literary Magazine, Foliate Oak Magazine, Prachya Review (“The One Who Had It All”), Driftwood Press (“The Boy of Eight Summers”), The Missing Slate Art & Literary Journal (Story of the Week, “Darwin Mother”), Gravel Literary Journal, Edify Fiction, Shandy Pockets, Anak Sastra, Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Dirty Chai, Nature Writing, The Writer’sDrawer, Moonlit Road, Travelmag: The Independent Spirit, and Go Nomad. For a number of years, he was also a contributor to Viet Nam’s national premier English newspaper, Tuoi Tre: “The Youth Newspaper.” In 2009, he had a Highly Commended short story “Lazarus, Come Forth!” in the Tom Howard Short Story, Essay, and Prose Contest.

Born and raised in Texas, CG FEWSTON graduated from Brownwood High School and, later, from Howard Payne University with a B.A. in English & American Literature. After receiving his first Master’s degree in Education for Higher Education Leadership and Administration (honors) from JIU in Colorado, he received his M.A. in Literature (honors) from Stony Brook University in New York where his thesis “An Unnatural Demise” was nominated for the Deborah Hecht Award. While a Seawolf, CG FEWSTON was a member of University Scholars and also the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). He received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Fiction from Southern New Hampshire University, where he is proud to be a fellow Penmen.

While at Southern New Hampshire University, CG FEWSTON had the honor and privilege to work with wonderful and talented novelists, such as Richard Adams Carey (author of In the Evil Day, October 2015; and, The Philosopher Fish, 2006) and Jessica Anthony (author of Chopsticks, 2012; and, The Convalescent, 2010) as well as New York Times Best-Selling novelists Matt Bondurant (author of The Night Swimmer, 2012; and, The Wettest County in the World, 2009, made famous in the movie Lawless, 2012) and Wiley Cash (author of A Land More Kind Than Home, 2013; and, This Dark Road to Mercy, 2014). While at SNHU, CG FEWSTON also participated in writing workshops ran by Mark Sundeen, Ann Garvin, Jo Knowles, Diane Les Becquets, and Benjamin Nugent (all brave, enthusiastic and talented writers).

CG FEWSTON’s published works include:

A FATHER’S SON (2005); one collection of short fiction, THE NEW AMERICA (2007) – named a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence 2008 Awards; VANITY OF VANITIES (2011); and, A TIME TO LOVE IN TEHRAN (2015) was a Finalist in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction, a Finalist in the 2015 Mystery & Mayhem Novel Writing Contest, and won GOLD for Literary Classics’ 2015 Best Book in the category under “Special Interest” for “Gender Specific – Female Audience”. Heartbreaking, lyrical and eloquent, this remarkable novel confirms CG FEWSTON’s place among America’s finest novelists.

Forthcoming: Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being, and (also forthcoming) Little Hometown, America: A Look Back.

“CG FEWSTON” is a pseudonym and phonetic spelling of “CG FUSTON.” “CG” is a familial cognomen handed down multiple generations. “FUST-ON” is a surname derived from the original family name of “FUST.”

The Rhineland, a German province, is the ancestral home of the FUST family. The name was derived from the Old German word “fust” meaning “fist” and was held by a person strong in nature and character as well as combative and warlike.

After the 17th century, to escape religious persecution, many Rhinelanders settled across North America, especially in Texas—which is where the author CG FEWSTON is from.

Historically, the FUSTs would emerge in the Rhine region and in Bavaria as a noble family involved in economic, social and political affairs. One of the most famous FUSTs, according to Encyclopædia Britannica, was Johann Fust (c. 1400 – 1466), who was an early German printer and the financial backer for Johannes Gutenberg, who would become the inventor of the printing press and printing in Europe. Until 1506 the name was written as “FUST” when Peter Schöffer called his grandfather “FAUST,” which is said to have inspired the story of Doctor Faustus.